Forsaken
"To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" :This article is about the playable race referred to as "Undead" in published materials. For information on the living dead in general, see Undead. For information on the Lich King's faction, see Scourge. The Forsaken are a faction of undead who broke away from the Scourge and took control of much of the kingdom of Lordaeron, destroyed during the Third War by the death knight Arthas. They are currently allied with the Horde, but in an alliance of convenience only. The Forsaken are led by their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas Windrunner, the former Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas. Their capital is the Undercity, in the royal catacombs beneath the ruins of the City of Lordaeron. The Forsaken are the most popular Horde race, and the third most popular race overall (after humans and night elves). Introduction and History In the wake of Illidan's failed attempt to melt the icy continent of Northrend, the powerful energies possessed by the Lich King inside his Frozen Throne slowly began to decay. Inexorably this resulted in a partial loss of control of the more distant Scourge forces. The result was that many undead under the Lich King's mental domination had their conscious will restored. Their spirits and memories were somehow returned to their undead bodies. Even the Lich King’s champion, Arthas, began to weaken as the Lich King's power waned. Arthas the Death Knight and his lieutenant, Kel'Thuzad the Lich were suddenly thrust into an undead civil war. Still fanatically loyal to the Lich King, Arthas heeded the call of his master and returned to Northrend as Illidan launched his second attempt to destroy the Lich King directly. Arthas left Kel'thuzad in command of his forces when he departed. thumb|A Forsaken Apothecary With Arthas's departure from Lordaeron, the three Dreadlords Balnazzar, Varimathras and Detheroc attempted to regain control over the undead forces in Lordaeron using their formidable mental powers. The former High Elf Sylvanas Windrunner rallied many of the newly freed undead to counter the Dreadlords' efforts. Sylvanas was amazingly successful and not only crushed the Dreadlords' forces, but also utterly destroyed the last major contingent of human forces in Lordaeron. She forced Varimathras into her service in exchange for sparing his life and took control of the ruined capital of Lordaeron as her own. Within the sewer system of the ruined city Arthas had constructed his throne room; but with Arthas now gone, Sylvanas claimed this Undercity as her capital and set out to expand her ranks by freeing even more undead. Dubbing her band of free-willed undead the Forsaken, Sylvanas worked to ensure that the damned such as herself would have a home free from threats by the living. To ensure their survival, the Forsaken have forged an alliance of convenience with the Horde, which has some sympathy for the Forsaken's condition. The orcs, having been enthralled to demon masters for a generation, felt an obligation to help similarly liberated people. Among the Tauren the Forsaken found a champion in Magatha Grimtotem, who argued in favor of the alliance between the two peoples and who continues to work closely with them. Magatha claims she merely wants to aid the Forsaken in their quest to redeem themselves, although there are many who believe her true motives to be something very different and much less innocent. While the Horde does not fully trust the Forsaken and vice versa, it is a start. All members of the Forsaken race are either humans or of elven descent (high elves and half-elves). Though they also control a few abominations as well. The Royal Apothecary Society has independently accepted in a few undead dwarves, leper gnomes, even some orcs, and trolls have joined the society, as apothecaries, but those are not true Forsaken. Culture Before the time of the Scourge, many of those that would become Forsaken were devout priests of the Light. It would seem, however, that the Light has turned it's back on the Forsaken, and they are unable to channel it. In this, the truth of their name becomes apparent. The figure wore the robes of a priest of the Holy Light - not uncommon among the Forsaken, who mocked the order by wearing their garments and allowing the sacred robes to be soiled and tainted by their bloody work. Somehow, Andarin sensed, this figure was different; the robes seemed to be in almost tolerable condition, even if the body wearing them was not. "You wear the robes of a priest, Trevor. Why do you not channel the Light in battle, if you seek redemption?" The priest seemed to wince at that. "While I refuse to wield the shadow, the Light has refused me, or so it seems. And so, I am truly a broken man; I learned to wield spears of Light like Uther's knights did in the Second. Without the Light, I am unarmed and unarmored -- but not entirely helpless, as you see." Andarin couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the fallen priest, if his story was true. Perhaps a man, no matter how virtuous, could not channel holy power while in such a form." Not all Forsaken are evil, but many are, and other races definitely view them as such. A non-evil Forsaken must work hard to prove his neutral (or perhaps, good) intentions. Few good Forsaken exist, but many evil ones do, and their leadership is definitely up to nefarious ends. Although many consider them evil, the Forsaken cannot be thought of in purely dualistic terms entirely. Although undead, the Forsaken are still inherently human, the majority of whom were victims of the plague spread by Kel'Thuzad. Thus some of the Forsaken are still good beings, if no longer living. As the above suggests, some individuals among them are capable of a tragic form of nobility, in that they do not allow their inability to obtain redemption to prevent them from trying. Those that do usually leave the Forsaken, seeing its flaws, to join other causes. Leonid Barthalomew the Revered of the Argent Dawn is probably the greatest example of this (Trevor in fact aspires to leave and join Leonid). It is arguable that such nobility is the only truly genuine form that exists, in that it comes not from duty, religion, or custom, but from a decision born purely of free will. It should be noted, however, that the official Forsaken religion is Forgotten Shadow a religion that worships the shadow, and uses it, and not the Holy Light. It is a religion that is out to eradicate anything having to do with the Holy Light, and life in general, as well as being a religion of divine humanism. An early forsaken priest quest points out that the light and the shadow have both rejected the Forsaken and power must be earned by themselves (they have apparently since learned how to tap into the shadow). Languages Forsaken learn the languages of their enemies and their allies (who may become their enemies). Excerpt from World of Warcraft manual "Bound to the iron will of the tyrant Lich King, the vast undead armies of the Scourge seek to eradicate all life on Azeroth. Led by the banshee, Sylvanas Windrunner, a group of renegades broke away from the Scourge and freed themselves from the Lich King's domination. Known by some as the Forsaken, this group fights a constant battle not only to retain its freedom from the Scourge, but also to slaughter those who would hunt them as monsters. With Sylvanas as their banshee queen, the Forsaken have built a dark stronghold beneath the ruins of Lordaeron's capital city. This hidden Undercity forms a sprawling labyrinth that stretches beneath the haunted woods of the Tirisfal Glades. Though the very land is cursed, the zealous humans of the Scarlet Crusade still cling to their scattered holdings, obsessed with the eradication of the undead and retaking their homeland. Convinced that the primitive races of the Horde can help them achieve victory over their enemies, the Forsaken have entered an alliance of convenience. Harboring no true loyalty for their new allies, they go to any lengths to ensure their dark plans come to fruition. The members of the Forsaken have a simple task - to massacre any who pose a threat to the new order, human, undead or otherwise." Playable Race Capital City: The Undercity Starting Attributes Racial Traits Reasons for Traits Though undeath was not something any Forsaken actually chose, it brings new capabilities and immunities: *The undead do not need to draw breath to fill their lungs, and can thus stay underwater much longer (300% longer) than any other race. *The Will of the Forsaken reflects the struggle that every Forsaken faced in breaking free from the Lich King's powerful mental domination, and in remaining free from his control. *As the Forsaken are physically dead, they have the ability to Cannibalize, metabolizing the remains of humanoid corpses to regain their own strength. Classes Undead characters may play as a Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock or Warrior. All of these classes mimic the playable classes of the Human race, with the exception of Paladin, who are immune to the Plague of Undeath, unless infected willingly. Direction The undead start in Deathknell, and after the quests are finished there, they head on to Brill. While at Brill, you have many quests that involve going to the Undercity, the undead capital town. It resides in Tirisfal Glades. After finishing the quests in Brill, you then head to Silverpine Forest to the outpost of The Sepulcher. Alternatively, undead players can go to Durotar from the zeppelin tower near Brill, and then walk to The Crossroads in The Barrens rather than Silverpine Forest after completing the Brill quests, at roughly level 14 or so. Although the initial walk to the Crossroads is long, following this path has some advantages:- * Quests at the Crossroads are somewhat less challenging than those in Silverpine at the same character levels, allowing more rapid level advancement. * Several high level aggro mobs roam Silverpine, most notably Son of Arugal. * The Barrens are customarily a much busier and larger area than Silverpine, and thus level 14+ characters are able to get an introduction to larger scale socialization within the game, and have many more quests to choose from. * The Barrens hosts two low-level instance dungeons (Ragefire Chasm under Orgrimmar, and the Wailing Caverns southwest of the Crossroads) which can also assist newer players in becoming familiar with that aspect of the game. Silverpine only has one, Shadowfang Keep, south of the Sepulcher. * At roughly level 14, Forsaken will get Honored standing with the Undercity, and as they start at Neutral with the other Horde races they might want to build some reputation with them early. With the TBC expansion, the Forsaken can also choose to do quests in Eversong Woods and Ghostlands using the Orb of Translocation found in the Ruins of Lordaeron. Using this orb will take your character to Silvermoon City, the blood elf capital. Opinion and analysis See Forsaken analysis. Category:Forsaken Category:Independent Undead Category:Lore Category:Races Category:Creatures Category:Humanoids Category:Horde races